They laughed together. The cheer of two usually depressed people filled the space with a sort of melodic beauty, as if the universe were respecting that such events were infrequent and precious. “That’s truly a shame, painless really is the way to go for some things,” she giggled, a note of seriousness in her voice. A tattoo without needles would be fricking amazing.

Then, he mentioned that she hadn’t pissed anyone off in the 5 hours they’d known each other… Well, that wasn’t completely true. “For starters, there’s all the men I snitched from tonight. Some won’t notice, but some will. Generally speaking, though, I think we might manage to coexist by mutual irritation.” The words sounded funny rolling off her tongue, but Magnum hoped they made sense. They did in her mind.

She noticed when he sat closer to her. Mag responded in turn, leaning over a little so that their shoulders touched and Ty was more or less supporting her. Her eyes closed as she revealed in the moments of touch. “What are you going to do when you run out of room? Expand into your lower torso?” It had been a long time since Magnum had enjoyed herself this much. The shine that Blaze had said he loved - the spark that appeared rarely, and hadn’t shown itself at all after his death - it was finally back in her eyes. Tonight? Tonight was a good night, with good company and good drinks. Magnum was happy.

"True...and I did get into a confrontation with that one guy. Twice," he mused with a light chuckle.

When she leaned into him, he slipped an arm around her, letting his hand rest on her side, and he too closed his eyes for a moment, just savoring this. "If I run out of upper, back and arms included...Im probably done. I could get a few on my legs but..." he gave a small laugh as he opened his eyes.

"Some places weren't meant to be inked."

After this, he sat in silence a moment, alone with his thoughts and his emotions with the warmth of body heat radiating from the body next to him.

For the first time, icy blue eyes focused totally on the figure next to him, soaking in every feature and detail.

He leaned in just slightly, letting his lips meet hers. This kiss was sweet, gentle, and lasted maybe a few seconds. It wasn't forced, nor was it lustful. Once it ended, he'd resume his oroginal position, empty coffee cup on the table i, front of them.

Magnum knew exactly what he meant about regions not meant to be inked, but that didn’t stop her from laughing. It was a very light hearted, airy giggle - the kind that she liked in other girls, but rarely produced herself. She was genuinely happy. Her lack of shoes allowed her to bring her feet up onto the couch, which is what she did as Ty’s arm slid around her. Had anyone been looking closely, they would have seen her cheeks tint a light shade of pink. This was not the most surprising development, though… No, a few deep inhalations later he shifted. After noticing this shift, curiosity caused her to tip her head into a slight upward angle just before his lips met hers. Mag, though quite shocked, was pleasantly surprised. This likely explained why she ended up kissing him back rather than smacking him away. However, just as quickly as it appeared, his kiss was gone.

It left her reeling - in typical girl fashion - though this time it was not a question of whether she liked him, but whether she was ready to engage in another relationship yet. If tonight’s earlier escapade indicated anything, it was that she had not come to terms with her ex’s death (though she was obviously acknowledging his absence). The action a few moments ago had not felt like cheating though, implying that she was on the way to coping with the tragedy.

The confusion did not deter her responses. Mag turned to his shoulder and smiled, attempting to hide this action behind his muscle shirt. After an extended (but not awkward) period of silence, she found a response articulate her feelings. “I liked that,” the words came out softer than intended, being mildly muffled by black cloth.

Maybe--hopefully, Mag didn't notice Ty tense, almost as if he was bracing for something. For a few moments, he was waiting for...something. But...what? An explosion? A punch to the face? An oven mitt flying across the room at his face? The correct answer was D, all of the above.

But what happened was E, none of the above. And he exhaled somewhat of a sigh of relief, smiling at what actually happened. She was hiding in his shirt; and she...liked it? His cheeks tinted a nice shade of pink as he reeled himself in.

This was it, then. Tses was officially over. He knew he'd blown it, but...hell it'd been a whole year since he'd abandoned her. Besides, she was better off without him. She was always stronger than he had been. But that was enough of that.

Turning so he could see Mag's whole face, and he looked her in the eyes, somewhat of a glimmer in his own. "I did too," he said softly, running a hand through her hair. This moment was close to perfect.

And nothing blew up.

Well, almost nothing blew up. Magnum noticed his nerves, but not nearly as much as she noticed the fireworks exploding in her chest. Of course, these were not real explosions, but nerves and “butterflies” of happiness flittering around as they used her body like a jungle gym. These emotions left excitement, everywhere they touched, the kind that made someone feel at home even while endorphins flooded their brain.

All of the muscles in her body were relaxed. Miraculously, very little alcohol had been involved. Here she was - eyes locked with someone she’d met only hours before - feeling so at peace that her powers affected not a single drop of dew in the surrounding air. Magnum was focused on one thing, and one thing only: Ty. The way his hand felt brushing through her hair, the way it glided across just enough to cause small goosebumps, softly tugging in a way that emulated massage.

Throughout this, their eyes remained fixed on each other. She slid a little bit closer to him, making the heat convection a conduction system. Bliss flooded her system, causing what would otherwise be referred to as a melting sensation. After the longest while, she allowed her eyes to stray downward (to his lips), and then closed them. Her head found a small niche in his chest and settled there.

The moment was perfect, and, as long as Ty didn’t have a bloodthirsty gang nipping at his heels, Magnum caught a glimpse of herself enjoying moments like this in the future.

As their eyes locked, everything else just seemed to disappear; nothing he'd gone through the day before seemed to matter now, much less things that had happened a year ago. Though there were no words spoken, the silence wasn't awkward. It was just that no words were needed for this moment and time.

He settled back into the couch as she found her niche in his chest and he wrapped both arms around her, the one hand still idly playing with her hair as the other found its place resting on her lower back.

Luckily for both of them, there was no one on his heels right now. In fact, the only person who was truly after him didn't even know he was back in town, so all was well. For now. But he knew it wouldn't always be this way; it was the cross he bore. It came with his lifestyle. There was going to be trouble, and he was going to piss people off. On occasion, these were going to be some very powerful people.

For the second time tonight, Ty made a silent vow. No matter what, he would protect her, should she choose to stay. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head, his own blue eyes staring ahead at the TV, which...wasn't even on. His gaze was focused, and he brushed away a stray tear.

This was his fresh start. And this time, he wasn't about to **** things up.